Beautiful Angel
by GoodNightSweetGirl
Summary: He would always be her beautiful angel, and she was someone he met once many years ago and never forgot. The story of Esme and Carlisle, a love which spanned over many years and is still going strong. Please R&R!


**Disclaimer – I own none of the characters. Well, except for the nurse and Clarissa. But the rest belong to Stephenie Meyer, author of the great books Twilight and New Moon. **

_ There he was again. The same man who had been in Esme's dreams for a full week now was returning. He was tall and strong, yet lithe. He had blond hair so light that it looked almost white, and skin pale as snow. But he was beautiful, if a man can be. His eyes were a wondrous and mysterious shade - gold with small specks of brown. Esme was mesmerized by the mere sight of them. That was, of course, until he smiled at her. Her heart melted on the spot. His smile was of such dazzling brilliance that Esme had to look away regretfully in order to shield herself. His smile was so bright, however, that Esme woke up, smiling to herself._

_ She longed for the next day to end and nighttime to begin. It was then she was able to see her golden angel again._

"…And he was just one of the most gorgeous things I've ever laid my eyes upon," continued Clarissa.

"What was that?" Esme asked, startled out of her daydream. She had been thinking about that dream again, the one with the beautiful man.

"Esme," Clarissa continued, looking rather annoyed with her friend, "Haven't you been paying any attention to what I've been telling you?"

"Sorry," Esme replied apologetically. "I've just been…never mind. When was this?" she added politely, still thinking about her dream.

"Well, I had to go with my family to the hospital – Ronnie's asthma has been acting up lately, you know." Esme nodded .Clarissa's youngest brother, Ronnie, had been plagued with asthma so severe the family had to sometimes travel to the hospital twenty miles away in order to get him treated. "And the doctor who came in to treat him wasn't Ronnie's usual one," Clarissa continued, "but he was so much better! And handsomer," she said with a grin.

Esme smiled in spite of herself. Clarissa was known to over exaggerate – especially where the subject of men was concerned.

"His eyes were a magnificent shade of brown – more yellow, actually", Clarissa continued on with her story excitedly. "Like a cat's, but really they made him look like an angel." This new development in her friend's story piqued Esme's interest.

"Ocher?" she asked.

"No other way to describe them," Clarissa answered, igniting Esme's curiosity even more.

"Was he tall?" Esme inquired.

"I suppose he was, yes," Clarissa answered, staring at Esme suspiciously.

"And unusually young as well?" Esme went on, fingering her hat nervously.

"Esme," Clarissa said, grinning. "Do you know him?"

Blush rose on Esme's pale cheeks in spite of herself. "No," she replied hastily. "He just sounded familiar, that's all."

"Well, then," Clarissa went on, staring at Esme oddly. "Then Ronnie –" She broke off as a huge gust of wind suddenly came up, lifting Esme's hat right off of her head.

"Oh – my hat!" Esme cried, jumping to her feet. That hat was the closest item to an heirloom that Esme owned. It had belonged to her grandmother, and then was passed onto her mother, and then to Esme. Even though the hat was rather dreadful – it was light blue and had quite an abundance of purple flowers on it – it was extremely comforting to her, and she would hate to lose it.

The girls watched the hat for a few seconds. To Esme's relief, the wind finally stopped carrying her precious treasure. Unfortunately, however, the hat came to a stop at the top of a tree fifty or so yards away.

"Oh drat!" Esme exclaimed, frustrated. She ran towards the three, Clarissa following behind.

There was her hat, all the way at the top of the tree. Hanging rather comfortably on the end of a lengthy branch, it seemed.

"I'm going to go get it," Esme declared, starting for the tree.

"But Esme," Clarissa protested. "That's not very ladylike behavior. Your papa will object horribly."

"Not if he doesn't know," argued Esme. Her father had always said she was particularly stubborn. And Esme hated to prove her father wrong.

"You'll ruin your dress," Clarissa muttered resignedly. Esme began climbing the tree. She could see why the boys loved doing this so much – it allowed her to be so close to nature. Climbing also provided her with a rush of adrenaline unparalleled to anything she had ever done before.

The hat was so close now. Esme looked down at Clarissa to reassure her, and realized just how high up she had climbed. The view dizzied her for a moment. Esme shook her head and got rid of the fears that had just begun to plague her mind. She reached a long arm to the hat, and had just managed to push the hat off of the branch before she heard a crack.

The rest must have happened very quickly Esme was sure, yet time stood still for her. The branch onto which she had been hanging had suddenly snapped, leaving its occupant utterly helpless "Esme!" Clarissa screamed, her eyes wide with fear. The actual falling went by rather quickly, and Esme found herself on the ground. Another crack was heard, and Esme felt pain. Only pain. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw that her leg was at a completely unnatural angle.

'_How odd_' she thought to herself. Then the light went out and her world went black.

"Esme? Esme, can you hear me?" A voice called out to her in the darkness. Esme opened her eyes to see a young man with golden eyes. Her dream.

"Hello," Esme replied with a smile. She began to drift in and out of consciousness. The last thing she remembered was hearing his voice. It was a smooth, silky voice that wrapped around her like a warm blanket.

"I'm Doctor Carlisle Cullen," he said.

"Cullen?" she whispered. "It's nice to see you again," she managed to say before the pain took her away. She dreamed of him again.

When Esme woke again, she felt utterly alone. She would have assumed her climbing, and subsequently falling off of a tree was just a dream but for the pain radiating from her left leg. She drew in a sharp breath, surprised by how much her leg pounded.

"Miss?" A woman walked briskly into Esme's room, carrying a brown clipboard in her hands. "Ah, it's nice to see that you're finally awake," she said, walking over to Esme's bed and laying another blanket on top of the young woman. "You gave us all quite a scare with your fall."

"Cullen?" Esme croaked, her voice unnaturally hoarse.

"Oh, dear, are you talking about Carlisle? Poor thing, he left the day you came here. Some sort of family emergency. Never even saw you. You must have had quite some dreams over the last few days. I was afraid of that. Here, let me give you some more medicine." She proceeded to add something to the bad hanging next to Esme's bed.

"No," Esme murmured weakly, but it was no use. The room began to darken again, leaving Esme with only the memory of her beautiful angel.


End file.
